Frimley High Street will be left without a bank from August 30 this year when NatWest closes.

Barclays Bank will close even sooner, leaving customers without a branch on June 22; these are the only two banks on the High Street.

Over-the-counter cash and banking services will still be available at the Frimley High Street Post Office, but residents have expressed they are "frightened" by the prospect of being left without a proper bank.

Waitrose will continue to operate its cash machine service, which is currently out of order due to an attempted theft on Thursday (February 22), but no other cash machines currently operate on the High Street.

Read More

Closures in Surrey

The situation has prompted retailer McColl's manager Elaine Murphy, from Frimley, to request a cash machine be installed in her High Street store as soon as possible.

The 43-year-old said: "The whole High Street is going to come to a stand still. The rent is extortionate. The new carpet shop only lasted two or three months and the parking situation is too expensive.

"I don't think the cash machine will [charge], I think it will be free, but I can't confirm that."

Miss Murphy could not confirm when the cash machine would be installed.

Read More

Sarah Croke, 47, vice chairman of Frimley Business Association, said: "We are all devastated and shocked. Now we will have no banks on the High Street. It's a big pull for Frimley as a lot of people come here just to bank.

"So many elderly residents are stopping me and saying, 'where are we meant to bank now?' They are frightened."

Mrs Croke blamed private landlords raising rents for the banks closures and feared that the loss of passing trade could be very damaging for local businesses.

Barclays response

Frimley's banks will soon be a thing of the past (Image: Sarah Croke)

Steven Sargant, acting community banking director for Barclays Thames Valley community, said: "The way customers undertake their banking is changing as people increasingly use online, telephone and mobile devices.

"At Barclays Frimley branch, customer usage has continued to decline and additionally 83% of our branch customers are also using other ways to do their banking, such as online and by telephone.

"On average 65% of our customers now regularly use alternative branches and this figure is even higher for our business customers, which is why we have taken the difficult decision to close the branch.

Read More

"We hope that the availability of our nearest Barclays branch, approximately two miles away at 34-36 Victoria Road, Farnborough and access to services at the local post offices, located at 94 Frimley High Street, Frimley, along with our range of digital channels will help to ease the transition for our customers."

NatWest comment

Frimley's Natwest branch will close on August 30, this year (Image: Sarah Croke)

A spokesman for NatWest and RBS said: "Since 2012 we have seen the way in which people use the NatWest Frimley branch change dramatically, with now 91% of customers already banking in other ways locally.

"Transactions in the NatWest Frimley branch have reduced by 36% since 2012 with now only 51 customers visiting the branch on a weekly basis, and 67% of customers are now choosing to bank digitally with us on a regular basis instead.

"We know that not all of our customers are comfortable or familiar with using online or mobile banking, so we have created a new specialist task force of NatWest tech experts who will be dedicated to supporting our customers with training and support with digital skills until the branch closes."

Keep up to date with the latest news from around the county via the free Get Surrey app.

You can set up your app to see all the latest news and events from your area, plus receive push notifications for breaking news.